Surgical scopes (e.g., laparoscopes, endoscopes, arthroscopes, etc.) are used in corrective medical procedures, as well as in medical procedures that image interior viscera such as surfaces of the stomach, small intestines, and colon. The use of surgical scopes permits a surgeon to view a patient body interior with a minimal amount of cutting of patient tissue. The surgical scopes may be warmed prior to use, where scope optics must remain dry to protect those optics and prevent distortion of the image. The scopes are warmed for several reasons, including enhancing image results, preventing infections, and maintaining normothermia. For example, a scope that is not warmed prior to being inserted into a patient body may fog due to differences between the body temperature and scope temperature, thereby impeding or distorting the resulting image. Further, scopes may be warmed to minimize trauma caused to tissue in response to insertion of the scope into the patient body. The trauma basically results from the temperature difference between the scope and the tissue. Inserting a hot or cold scope may damage tissue, thereby leading to infections. Inserting a cold scope may also lower core body temperature, thereby leading to hypothermia and compromising patient safety.
Therefore, thermal warming systems or devices may warm the scopes. The thermal devices generally include a body or cabinet, and a basin or recess positioned within a top surface of the body. The basin is configured to contain and thermally treat a liquid bath. The medical instrument, or scope, is then placed in the thermally treated bath to raise the temperature of the insertion end of the scope to the desired temperature prior to inserting the scope into the patient. The opposite end, or optical end, of the scope is positioned outside of the bath so as to not damage the optics, which can be expensive to replace.
However, it should also be appreciated that the scopes and other medical instruments and devices must be sterile, so as to reduce the chance of infecting a patient during surgery or other procedures. Therefore, sterilized plastic sheets have been placed over the thermal warming systems, including the basis, to reduce the risk of infection. The liquid is added directly on the sheet in the basin, with additional parts of the sheet hanging over and around the device.
The medical scopes are often longer than the length of the basin and distance to an edge of the warming device. Thus, when the end of the scope is being warmed in the basin, the opposite end extends at an angle beyond the edge of the device, which increases the chance that the scope can fall out of the basin. Doing so can introduce the insertion end of the scope to potentially harmful bacteria, and can also damage the optic end of the scope, which, as noted above, can be rather expensive.
Methods have been taken by medical staff to reduce the chance that the scope will fall out of or off of the thermal device. For example, it is not uncommon for a surgical team to move a wheeled shelf adjacent the wheeled thermal device, such that the optic end of the scope can rest on the shelf, with the optic end elevated to ensure that the insertion end remains in the thermally treated liquid solution. However, doing so reduces the amount of shelf space available in the surgery room, and also introduces additional risks to the scope. An otherwise useful shelf must be used to support the scope, or an otherwise unneeded shelf must be used, which reduces the amount of space in the room. As both the second shelf and the thermal device are on wheels, they can be easily moved, even when not purposefully moved. Moving the second shelf, either purposefully or accidentally, will move the support of the scope, which can cause the scope to fall from the thermal device, introducing the problems discussed above.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an apparatus and system that can be used with a thermal warming medical device or apparatus that covers the device to ensure a sterilized medical room. There is also a need for a medical drape or cover that includes a scope support member housed within to support a scope during warming of the scope in the medical device. Furthermore, there is a need for a shelf that can be attached to the medical device to increase the amount of usable space, while minimizing intrusion into the medical room space. The shelf can also be used to support the support member of the drape without having to use a separate wheeled shelf in the room.